1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wheel repairing apparatus and a wheel repairing method for repairing a deformed portion of a rim of a wheel that is damaged due to an accident and the like to be returned to the original form.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a wheel made of steel has frequently been used as a wheel on which a tire is mounted in a vehicle or the like. Recently, however, a wheel made of lightweight aluminum or magnesium has frequently been used. Since it is a light alloy, it contributes to improve acceleration, riding feeling and fuel efficiency, and provides an excellent aesthetic design, but it has a weak point that a rim of the wheel is likely to be deformed or damaged due to the contact caused by an accident or the like.
In the case where this rim of the wheel is subjected to damage to such an extent of only a deformation, it is uneconomical to dump the wheel, and the technology to repair this for reuse has conventionally been developed. For example, this technology is shown in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei 3-9853 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei 6-21802.
In the technology disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei 3-9853, an elevator frame that is movable up and down is provided above a table on which a tire wheel is fixed with its axis vertical, a pair of press rods are coupled by pins at their upper ends to a bottom surface of the elevator frame, and attachments are provided at the respective lower ends so as to come into contact with inner circumferential surfaces of the tire wheel. Then, one of the attachments is brought into contact with the inner surface of the recessed deformed portion of the rim, and the other attachment is brought into contact with the rim portion opposing the deformed portion of the rim in a diametrical line of the tire wheel. The elevator frame is lowered so that the recessed deformed portion is pressed by one of attachments to repair it.
However, such a conventional tire wheel repairing apparatus has the following disadvantages because it has a structure including the two attachments.
A first problem is that it is impossible to use the repairing apparatus according to a kind of wheels to be repaired. Namely, it is the problem of a size of the attachment. The other attachment that serves as a receiver for the reactive force of one attachment needs to have a length of one third or more of the tire wheel diameter for its function. For this reason, there is a problem that it is impossible to secure a space for mounting the other attachment according to a kind of wheels that are different in shape of the rim portion or the disc portion due to the various designs.
A second problem is that, in the method of thus using the other attachment as the reactive force receiver, when the other attachment is designed in a small size in the same manner for one attachment, the wheel is, inversely, deformed due to the other attachment.
A third problem is that, when the deformed portion of the rim caused by the damage is to be repaired, in many cases, simply pressing the deformed portion by means of the attachment cannot repair it to a sufficient level. Namely, if the deformation is small, it is relatively easy to perform the repairing work, but if the deformation is large, it is necessary to apply a large force for repairing the wheel. Thus, it is necessary to take some measures to deal with such situation.
In this respect, according to the technology disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei 6-21802, the reactive force receiver is formed in an inverted U-shaped support frame portion provided on the base. However, this causes a problem that not only the apparatus should become large and bulky since i requires a plurality of rim repairing cylinders, but also the eccentric force is applied to the wheel itself because the wheel is not used as the reactive force receiver. For this reason, the technology is not suitable for the repairing work with high precision and the workability is also degraded.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a wheel repairing apparatus and a wheel repairing method that may readily repair the deformed portion of the rim without receiving any adverse effect from a rim shape, a disc shape and a kind of a wheel which vary by a design and the like, and, in addition, may enhance the precision of the repairing work and simplify the apparatus by devising a reactive force receiver for a pressurizing jack and positioning an axis of the wheel.
According to the present invention, there is provided a wheel repairing apparatus for repairing a deformed portion of a rim of a wheel caused by damage and the like, comprising: a base on which the wheel is to be mounted with its axis vertical; a support frame provided on the base; supporting means provided between the support frame and the base for rotatably supporting the wheel about the vertical axis; and pressurizing means for pressurizing the deformed portion of the rim; wherein the pressurizing means includes a pressurizing lever having a free end swingable about its proximal end, and at least the free end is brought into contact with the deformed portion of the rim from inside, and a jack for applying to the pressurizing lever a force in a direction in which the deformed portion is returned to the original form, and a reactive force of the jack is received by the wheel supporting means.
The pressurizing lever having the free end that is swingable about its proximal end is provided whereby it is possible to bring the pressurizing lever into contact with the deformed portion of the rim from inside precisely. Then, since the free end is thus swingable, it is easy to apply the force, in a direction in which the deformed portion of the rim is returned to the original form, by pushing the pressurizing lever by the jack. Also, with the structure for receiving the reactive force of the jack by the supporting means of the wheel, there is no fear that the eccentric force is given to the entire wheel or the portion of the rim. Thus, it is possible to perform the repairing work with high precision.
According to the present invention, it is possible to adopt a structure wherein a support member extending in a radial direction of the wheel is provided in an upper position of the wheel, the proximal end of the pressurizing lever is arranged movably and positionably along the support member, and a hinge for making the free end vertically rotatable along the radial direction of the wheel is provided at the proximal end portion of the pressurizing lever.
Thus, it is possible to move the pressurizing lever in its entirety in the radial direction of the wheel and it is possible to rotate the free end of the pressurizing lever vertically along the radial direction of the wheel about the hinge. Accordingly, it is possible to deal with the case where a diameter of a wheel, a rim thickness, a wheel width and the like are different, with ease and high precision.
The support frame may be configured to have a horizontal support frame extending in the radial direction of the wheel, and the support member of the pressurizing lever is fixed to the horizontal support frame. Thus, the support member is an independent member. Thus, it is possible to simplify the structure in which the proximal end of the pressurizing lever may be made movable and positionable by using a screw rod and the like as the support member.
It is preferable that the wheel supporting means includes a lower support unit for supporting the wheel from below, and an upper support unit for pressing the wheel from above to support the wheel, and the lower support unit has a support shaft extending vertically from a top surface of the base and movable up and down, and a receiver member with its lower end coupled with the support shaft and its upper end supports a lower surface of a periphery of a hub of the wheel. Thus, it is possible to hold the wheel with its axis in vertical position and to support the wheel rotatably on the base.
It is preferably that the upper support unit comprises a cylinder having a pressing member to be inserted coaxially into the hub hole of the wheel from above for alignment of the center and a rod supported vertically in the support frame and extending in an up-and-down direction, the cylinder presses the pressing member coaxially from above by the rod; and a height adjustment member disposed coaxially between the rod of the cylinder and the pressing member. Thus, with such configuration, it is possible to support the wheels that are different in kind in an easier and more accurate manner.
It is preferable that the rod of the upper support unit is supported by the horizontal support frame, both ends of the horizontal support frame are supported movably up and down with respect to the support frame, and both ends of the horizontal support frame are biased upwardly by springs. With such configuration, it is possible to move the rod up and down while keeping the perpendicularity of the rod and in addition to move the horizontal support frame smoothly up and down by the action of the springs.
Also, it is preferable that the jack is detachably mounted between the pressurizing lever and the upper support unit. Thus, it is possible to take a form that the reactive force of the jack may be received by the upper support unit for supporting the wheel with pressing thereof from above.
On the other hand, a method of the present invention is a wheel repairing method for repairing a deformed portion of a rim of a wheel caused by damage and he like by using a wheel repairing apparatus with pressurizing means for pressurizing the deformed portion, comprising the steps of: pressurizing the deformed portion of the rim from inside thereof by the pressurizing means in a direction in which the damaged portion is returned to the original form; and heating the deformed portion of the rim from outside thereof; wherein the heating is performed during the pressurizing process.
In the case where such a method is adopted, in the repairing work of the deformed portion of the rim, the heating is performed during the pressurizing process so that the deformed portion may readily be repaired. A gas burner or the like may be used for heating.
Also, it is preferable that the heating s performed while adjusting a force for pressurizing the deformed portion by the pressurizing means. This is because the repairing work can be performed while adjusting the extent of repairing the deformed portion and the repairing speed so as to prevent the problem of excessive heating or over pressurizing. Thus, it is possible to repair the deformed portion with high precision.